Entertainment
New Scream Movie Panned By Critics Over Politics, Breaks Franchise Box-Office Records
By Jennifer Asencio
| Published
According to film critics, Scream 7 is the death of the franchise. With an aggregate of 33% from 120 critic reviews as of this writing, it’s easy to believe they are right. There is just one problem: the movie is so popular that it’s poised to break opening-weekend franchise records.
The previous record was set by Scream VI, which opened with $44 million. The new movie is projected to approach or break $50 million, with some estimates as high as $59 million. Fans gave Scream 7 a 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating a big gap between audiences and critics.
How Politics Influences The Reviews Of Critics
The one thing that all the bad reviews have in common is discussion of the firing of Melissa Barerra and the subsequent departure of Jenna Ortega, both of whom played characters central to the two previous installations. Barerra was fired for making inflammatory remarks about Israel’s response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, sentiments which are shared by many in the entertainment industry; Ortega left in protest of Barrera’s dismissal. A lot of critics and major entertainment news venues sympathize with Barrera’s views, and some of these are gleefully reporting the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ ratings as though it means something for the movie.
Critics also infamously panned the biopic of the First Lady, Melania, with an even wider gap of 11% based on 53 reviews, while over 1000 audience reviewers average 98%. They are also offering great praise to the politically motivated series Starfleet Academy, the latest Star Trek show that hasn’t really resonated with fans, but which we keep being told is the best Star Trek yet. Meanwhile, the Daily Wire+ show The Pendragon Cycle has been ignored by mainstream critics, with no score on Rotten Tomatoes at all, not even a 0, despite an average of 85% from viewers.
What this all indicates is that industry reviewers are circling the wagons based on political divides rather than giving honest reviews. They are evaluating movies with greater consideration of whether they check certain boxes off-screen, and are boycotting or panning films that don’t neatly fit their mold. Critics are relying on their authority as insiders to dictate culture through the lens of politics rather than examining movies on their own merits and audience potential.
Professional Review Bombing
Some commenters have even accused the collective of mainstream critics of “review bombing” Scream 7. Review bombing is a phenomenon in which individuals give a movie a bad rating for some motive outside the show. Recently, a review bombing war between A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms fans and Breaking Bad fans resulted in the IMDB rating of the latter’s crowning episode, “Ozymandias,” being reduced to a 9.5 from a perfect 10. The war started because the Game of Thrones spinoff received some bad reviews from Breaking Bad fans, who may or may not have been acting in bad faith.
However, those are individuals, even if some of them coordinated via an internet campaign. They are not the professionals relied on to be unbiased and to evaluate movies and television based on the productions themselves, not on who made them or their politics. The fact that the critics don’t seem to be connected to what audiences seem to want makes it even worse, because we are all being told that liking the stuff we like makes us bigoted if they don’t like it. And they also seem to think that if they ignore it altogether, like with The Pendragon Cycle, that maybe it will slip by unnoticed.
How much of our culture is being suppressed by critics with political agendas? Scream 7 indicates that the question needs to be asked as it is such a runaway hit that the motives of mainstream reviewers may not be critique, but activism.
Entertainment
NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 19, 2026
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition will be a little easier if you love baseball.
As we’ve shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.
Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections: Sports Edition?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Here are today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: AL East Teams
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Green: First Words of Football Positions
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Blue: Premier League Managers
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Purple: Nicknames for the Dodgers Franchise, Over Time
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections: Sports Edition #573 is…
What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?
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AL East Teams — BLUE JAYS, ORIOLES, RAYS, YANKEES
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First Words of Football Positions — DEFENSIVE, RUNNING, TIGHT, WIDE
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Premier League Managers — EMERY, GUARDIOLA, MOYES, SLOT
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Nicknames for the Dodgers Franchise, Over Time — BRIDEGROOMS, DODGERS, ROBINS, SUPERBAS
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 19, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you have a sweet tooth.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
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Yellow: Lippy
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Green: Gowns
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Blue: Played in Vegas
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Purple: Sweet treats
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: Cheeky
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Green: Dress measurements
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Blue: Cards in Texas Hold ‘Em
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Purple: Last words of candy brands in the singular
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections #1043 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Cheeky: ARCH, FRESH, SASSY, WISE
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Dress measurements: BUST, HIPS, LENGTH, WAIST
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Cards in Texas Hold ‘Em: FLOP, HOLE, RIVER, TURN
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Last words of candy brands in the singular: CAP, DUD, KID, MINT
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for April 19, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you’re constantly changing.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Small change
The words are related to changes.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe fine-tuning.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is There I Fixed It.
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NYT Strands word list for April 19
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There I Fixed It
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Adjust
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Modify
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Alter
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Improve
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Tweak
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Refine
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Strands.
Cody Bellinger homers twice, as Yankees eclipse Royals
NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 19, 2026
